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A Pilgrim's Guide To Rest
Despite all the promises of scriptures, most Christians today are often left wondering if God is genuinely pleased with them. Their path feels like it leads from duty to acceptance. They strive every day to become the type of person that God would be pleased to save and call His own. Their trek is all uphill and filled with perpetual uncertainty. But this is not the flow of the Gospel — at least the one uncovered and rediscovered in the Reformation. The one defended by the Apostles. That Gospel always flows away from moralism. Life is lived from acceptance outward. We don’t do what we do in order to earn God’s love, but because we already have it. However, making that turn and heading back the opposite direction is no easy feat. Acceptance is a strange horizon when we’ve been conditioned to pursue assurance rather than rest in it. A Pilgrim’s Guide to Rest is an explanation of what that turn looks like and the freedom it can yield to the weary pilgrim.
183 pages, Paperback
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 27, 2019
Read this with the staff at our church. Very glad that we read it.
Short version: The conclusions were practical, timely, and helpful, although I was not always convinced by how they got there.
The practical and pastoral issues talked about were definitely helpful and needed. It certainly is a great reminder that our salvation is by grace alone through faith alone and this needs to be applied to every aspect of our lives/ministry. The concluding chapter on prayer was especially helpful. These pastors have a fantastic heart and are doing great work to free many churchgoers from the bondage of being enslaved to a morphed form of Christianity that teaches personal moral development as the pinnacle of Christianity. This volume, organizing the thoughts around the idea of "rest" fit really well with what we have been teaching our students this year in our Student Ministry and I found myself resonating with how they have articulated the content. Others have touched on similar issues in previous writings, but this volume has used a more natural, accessible, desirable, and even Biblical set of language to address the issues it addresses.
Before I proceed I must add the caveat that I have not listened to any of the podcasts (yet -- and I intend to). It was encouraged to listen to a sampling of them to get a feel for these guys. Despite what I am about to write, I am quite sure that there are more nuances to be found and a better understanding of their message and heart if one listens to the podcasts. The remainder of the review below, however, is taking the book at face value and not with the added context of knowing
It was interesting that they were able to draw such helpful conclusions despite the fact that I felt like their presentation of the context of the reformation did not seem to fit with what I have been taught and what I have always understood as the context of the reformation. There was a chapter devoted to this very thing and I think it missed the mark (again, perhaps getting to know the authors a bit more through the podcast and also hearing other details in the podcast may have altered this takeaway of mine). It certainly had some truth to it but it seemed at times anachronistic -- reading our present day issues back into the reformation.
It feels like the onus is on them to provide a more robust argument for their reading of the reformation as solely focused on assurance of salvation. This may be a helpful lens to read the reformation through but the reformation is more robust than that. They had a few dozen pages to give the context of the reformation so I do not critique the fact that they did not argue for this reading. I would just personally like to read/hear more about why they adopt such a view.
I may be overly critical of their reading of the reformation because I have recently been working through Charles Taylor's "A Secular Age" which I believe paints an incredibly deep and nuanced context of reformation (to be fair, [1] Taylor is a Catholic writing on the issue and [2] most of his massive book is dedicated to this very subject whereas the context of the reformation is slightly touched upon in the book in question).
To add further nuance to my comments on the reformation I think my expectations of what level the book was going to be dealing on were probably too high. In the preface it is said that the authors will be using words which a regular churchgoer may have to look up and I took this to mean that they would be writing on majority academic level. I thought this would apply also to their treatment of historical theology. As I reflect further, however, I am aware that this was an unfair and false assumption I carried. The book is written on the practical level for the practical reader. This does not do away with some of the thoughts I have regarding the reformation but it does alleviate the tension I was feeling.
Finally, I nearly demoted it to two stars for two reasons:(1) the book did not seem to flow incredibly naturally to me. When several authors attempt to write a book together it takes a great amount of effort to achieve a natural rhythm. They did organize the material in a logical and consistent way, but I still felt like the rhythm wasn't quite natural. (2) There were countless spacing errors throughout the book which eventually became a little bit distracting.
Overall, good, helpful content for the church. These pastors seem to be doing great work for God's church and I am thankful that they have contributed to the kingdom by writing this volume.
Short version: The conclusions were practical, timely, and helpful, although I was not always convinced by how they got there.
The practical and pastoral issues talked about were definitely helpful and needed. It certainly is a great reminder that our salvation is by grace alone through faith alone and this needs to be applied to every aspect of our lives/ministry. The concluding chapter on prayer was especially helpful. These pastors have a fantastic heart and are doing great work to free many churchgoers from the bondage of being enslaved to a morphed form of Christianity that teaches personal moral development as the pinnacle of Christianity. This volume, organizing the thoughts around the idea of "rest" fit really well with what we have been teaching our students this year in our Student Ministry and I found myself resonating with how they have articulated the content. Others have touched on similar issues in previous writings, but this volume has used a more natural, accessible, desirable, and even Biblical set of language to address the issues it addresses.
Before I proceed I must add the caveat that I have not listened to any of the podcasts (yet -- and I intend to). It was encouraged to listen to a sampling of them to get a feel for these guys. Despite what I am about to write, I am quite sure that there are more nuances to be found and a better understanding of their message and heart if one listens to the podcasts. The remainder of the review below, however, is taking the book at face value and not with the added context of knowing
It was interesting that they were able to draw such helpful conclusions despite the fact that I felt like their presentation of the context of the reformation did not seem to fit with what I have been taught and what I have always understood as the context of the reformation. There was a chapter devoted to this very thing and I think it missed the mark (again, perhaps getting to know the authors a bit more through the podcast and also hearing other details in the podcast may have altered this takeaway of mine). It certainly had some truth to it but it seemed at times anachronistic -- reading our present day issues back into the reformation.
It feels like the onus is on them to provide a more robust argument for their reading of the reformation as solely focused on assurance of salvation. This may be a helpful lens to read the reformation through but the reformation is more robust than that. They had a few dozen pages to give the context of the reformation so I do not critique the fact that they did not argue for this reading. I would just personally like to read/hear more about why they adopt such a view.
I may be overly critical of their reading of the reformation because I have recently been working through Charles Taylor's "A Secular Age" which I believe paints an incredibly deep and nuanced context of reformation (to be fair, [1] Taylor is a Catholic writing on the issue and [2] most of his massive book is dedicated to this very subject whereas the context of the reformation is slightly touched upon in the book in question).
To add further nuance to my comments on the reformation I think my expectations of what level the book was going to be dealing on were probably too high. In the preface it is said that the authors will be using words which a regular churchgoer may have to look up and I took this to mean that they would be writing on majority academic level. I thought this would apply also to their treatment of historical theology. As I reflect further, however, I am aware that this was an unfair and false assumption I carried. The book is written on the practical level for the practical reader. This does not do away with some of the thoughts I have regarding the reformation but it does alleviate the tension I was feeling.
Finally, I nearly demoted it to two stars for two reasons:(1) the book did not seem to flow incredibly naturally to me. When several authors attempt to write a book together it takes a great amount of effort to achieve a natural rhythm. They did organize the material in a logical and consistent way, but I still felt like the rhythm wasn't quite natural. (2) There were countless spacing errors throughout the book which eventually became a little bit distracting.
Overall, good, helpful content for the church. These pastors seem to be doing great work for God's church and I am thankful that they have contributed to the kingdom by writing this volume.
February 2, 2022
“Simul justus et peccator (simultaneously saint and sinner) is not a slogan to cause us to lower our standards — the standard of God's law doesn't change. It does, however, help us run to our Savior when we find ourselves sinning. It reminds us of the irrevocable gifts the Father has lavished on us because of the work of Christ. We will continue to sin, but He will continue to smile upon us. Truly nothing, not even ourselves, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” chapter 5, page 34.
June 8, 2020
Fantastic book, it was a blessing to see the seriousness of having a right view of the gospel and pointed out many errors in today’s evangelicalism which focuses on man more than Jesus Christ. Recommend to any weary pilgrim on the narrow road to Glory !
February 13, 2025
I appreciated the truths laid out in this book. However, the first couple chapters felt difficult to get through. The chapter on prayer was probably my favorite and it was the last chapter in the book. A chapter that people may not get to if they find the first half of the book a bit tedious, like I did.
I also found the lack of citations/footnotes very frustrating. So many times there was a quotation that was not adequately cited. There was no section in the back with the list of works cited (when they actually did cite what they quoted). This makes it difficult for me to read more on a topic if I wanted to.
I also found the lack of citations/footnotes very frustrating. So many times there was a quotation that was not adequately cited. There was no section in the back with the list of works cited (when they actually did cite what they quoted). This makes it difficult for me to read more on a topic if I wanted to.
December 16, 2020
One of the best books I've ever read, I'm on my 3rd time of reading it now!!
January 23, 2020
I personally really enjoyed this book. I listen to the Theocast podcast and have developed a fondness for the guys and their easy way of talking about such important topics. Their message is beautiful and so encouraging. If I didn’t know them or agree with most of what is written in the book, I might get more critical of the writing, editing and lack of documentation for quotes. It needed an editor. There were some parts that could have been more clear or more well written/reworked to be easier to follow. It’s those things that give me slight reservation about offering it to those in my life that i think need to hear this message most. It could be discounted because of the editing quality, which might distract from the message. ALL OF THAT ASIDE, what these guys write about and the message they get across is one of rest and freedom, which is desperately needed in Christianity today. I loved the book.
October 6, 2020
After decades of being immersed and indoctrinated in Armenian and semi-palegian theology crossing over the Reformed side has made all the difference. Resting in Christ is now a reality and has spurred a greater emphasis on ministry each day, but not by my own desires or works. Prayer becomes not a chore or a means to an end. It becomes a constant moment by moment conversation with our heavenly Father.
July 3, 2021
Phenomenal critique of American Evangelicalism. As a recovering pharisee this book made me cry and started me on a journey to confessional reformed theology. What makes this book so good is it is a "deconstruction" of the performance based christianity and pointed the reader to see Christ as he is. I wish more people read this book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews